Pest control

Some pests, such as rats, mice, bedbugs and cockroaches pose a risk to health when they infest property. The health risks are lower where these pests are outside. Other pests, for example, wasps, book lice and ants are generally a nuisance rather than health risks.

We offer a chargeable pest control service to residents, businesses and other council departments.

we provide advice and information to businesses and members of the public on pest control

we provide a pest identification service for residents - please send a clear photo by email to pestcontrol@lbhf.gov.uk

Contact us

Our opening times are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

Current pest control charges

The number of visits specified must be within 6 months of the first visit.

We accept cheques and debit and credit card payment.

You can pay when booking the first visit. You can cancel bookings within 7 days, however, if you want us to start work within that time you lose that right.

Rats

A pest treatment for rats costs £93 and is for 3 visits to the property.

We remove the bait if we find no evidence of rat activity on the third visit.

If additional visits are needed these will cost £37.50 each.

Mice

A pest treatment for mice costs £121 and is for 3 visits to the property.

We remove the bait if we find no evidence of rat activity on the third visit.

If additional visits are needed these will cost £37.50 each.

Fleas and Common Cloth Moths

A pest treatment for fleas or common cloth moths costs £109.50.

This price is based on:

1 visit

3 rooms - additional rooms cost £15 each.

We also sell moth traps for £54.99 - this includes delivery. We offer a 9% discount for orders collected from our office, bringing the price down to £49.99.

Wasps

A pest treatment for wasps costs £66 and is for one visit.

Bedbugs

A pest treatment for bedbugs costs £216.50.

This price is based on:

2 visits

2 bedrooms - additional rooms cost £26 each.

If additional visits are needed these will cost £105.50 each.

Cockroaches

A pest treatment for cockroaches costs £145 and is for 3 visits.

If additional visits are needed these will cost £45.50 each.

Pharaoh and tropical ants

A pest treatment for pharoah or tropical ants costs £118 and is for 2 visits.

Garden ants

A pest treatment for garden ants costs £49.

This price is based on:

1 visit

3 bedrooms - additional rooms cost £16 each.

Other pests

Contact us about treatments for pests not listed. Prices will be given if the booking can be made.

Commercial hourly charge

£117 for the first hour, then £59 per 30 minutes.

Missed or cancelled appointment

If you need to cancel or re-arrange an appointment, please contact us within 24 hours of the appointment time.

You will be charged the cost of an individual treatment if:

our officer calls and you are not at hom

any required preparatory work has not been completed

we cannot do the work as expected for any reason.

Pests we don't treat

Foxes

We don’t provide any fox control services. For further information about foxes please see our advice on foxes.

We recognise that foxes can be a real nuisance and we record details of fox sightings. If you know of any fox dens on council land please let us know by using the contact details at the top of the page.

We have no objections if you want to independently arrange for a private contractor to deal with foxes on your property.

Legally, there are two methods for killing foxes:

shooting

cage-trapping, in combination with a lethal injection.

Shooting is often too dangerous for urban areas. Cage trapping and lethal injection is expensive. Only a vet can administer a lethal injection and many vets are unwilling to put down healthy animals.

Even if these measures work, newly-vacated territory may be quickly occupied by other foxes, often within days, and competing foxes can fight over the territory, causing more nuisance.

Some pest control companies will kill foxes. If you decide to employ someone to kill a fox on your property, you will also be responsible for disposing of the animal.

Pigeons

Pigeons carry diseases such as salmonellosis, tuberculosis and ornithosis.

Their droppings, nesting material and carcasses contain a wide variety of mites and insects. These can infest areas where people live and can cause skin irritation, disease or allergic reactions.

There are no rules about feeding pigeons but in extreme cases we can consider an alleged offence of ‘littering’. It is an offence to drop litter anywhere in a place in the open air to which the public are entitled or permitted to have access. The food being deposited might constitute ‘litter’.

Health and safety

We take all reasonable steps to prevent any risk to health from pest control treatments. We ensure that all our pest control officers are properly trained and qualified.

Before carrying out any treatment, we assess the risks of people or pets coming into contact with pesticide. We only lay bait in protected containers, clearly marked ‘POISON’ and we position these to minimise the risk of children or animals touching them.

We hand out safety information about the type of pesticide we use and a safe procedure for disposing of dead rodents to minimise the risk of secondary poisoning of other animals.

In the case of rats and mice we revisit premises to check the effectiveness of the treatment and to collect unused pesticide.